Holy Hell
by Inuchron
Summary: Chrono and Rosette have just beaten a demon, but now they have to get back to the order. With Rosette unconscious and Chrono slowly being burned by holy water, will they get back at all?


Hi there everyone! This is Inuchron here

This is my first Chrono Crusade fanfic, I'm usually found lurking about in the Fullmetal Alchemist section so i think the characters are a bit OOC here, i'm used to working with a tempermental blond midget, not a lavender haired demon :)

Anyway, i hope you enjoy this!

Disclaimer: I not own, if i owned, there would be much more CC merchandise around

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The forest was quiet, snow softening all sounds until there was nothing left, just the gentle rustle of snow piling up. Chrono passed dazed eyes over it all, trying to find the path they'd taken into the forest from the car.

On his back, Rosette slumbered, a large bump on the back of her head and a few scratches across her cheek a testament to how hard she'd fought against the demon until the end, where she'd been knocked out by the demon's hefty club-like tail. Chrono wasn't in better condition, even though he was still conscious.

His leg sent stabbing pains through his system every time he put weight on it and the strange bump halfway up his shin made it clear he had broken it sometime during the fight. Three deep gashes across his stomach were bleeding sluggishly and bubbled slightly where a vial of holy water had spilled itself across them when the demon had smashed the ammunition box he'd been crouched behind.

It didn't help either that his ears were still ringing with the demons shrill roar. Rosette hadn't been able to hear it, but he sure had. The fight had been going their way to begin with. Rosette had the demon cornered in some church ruins and was raining a hail of sacreds into it when the thing suddenly broke free and came charging at her. Chrono had tried to get her out of he way, but only ended up getting clawed across the stomach.

He guessed the hard landing after that was when he broke his leg. Rosette had kept going after that, trying her best to break the demons horn before finishing off with a gospel, but the demon was too quick. It smashed his ammunition box, sending the smashed vials of holy water spraying across his exposed wounds and screaming at him in that high pitched wail that made his ear drums feel like they were bursting.

Rosette had had a sudden burst of energy and finally shot the damned thing with a gospel, but the rebound and resulting explosion of demonic body parts had knocked her out and all that led to Chrono's current situation. He gave a dry laugh at the thought she'd gotten knocked out on purpose, just so he would have to carry her back to the car.

On his back, Rosette gave a small murmur and pinched his shoulder as if she'd heard his thoughts and was protesting. He smiled a small smile at that, and decided that if he didn't find the car soon, he'd head back to the ruins and try to salvage the phone from the smashed box.

Sister Kate was getting worried. She'd sent Rosette and her demon out on a mission hours ago and should've returned by now. Surely he demon couldn't have been that hard to destroy? She paced round her desk and rubbed her aching stomach. "I swear that girl will be the death of me!" She groaned.

"You can't be talking about Rosette now, can you?" Came the silky voice of Father Remington. Kate groaned again.

"I don't have time to deal with your witty banter right now Remington, don't you have priestly duties to attend?"

"Can't I be worried about my young charge who's currently several hours late? Honestly Kate, you should know better." Remington gave her a disarming smile and made himself comfortable on the sofa. Kate glared at him, daring the Father to rest his shoes on the coffee table. He smiled again and put up his hands in a placating gesture. "Have they made any contact yet?" He asked. Kate shook her head and stared at the phone, willing it to ring.

"Not yet. You don't think she's…done something stupid do you?"

"Like open the watch? You know Chrono wouldn't let her unless something was wrong. He's not like other devils Kate." The head Sister hmmed, returning her gaze to the window.

After an hour of staggering through the forest, Chrono had finally managed to find the path to the car and was currently trying to figure out where the keys to it were. Only after checking through his pockets did he realise he'd have to risk his life and search through Rosettes'. With extreme caution, he felt through the girls pockets, red faced and silently repeating his mantra of '_please don't wake up, please don't wake up!'_ over and over again until his cold fingers finally grasped the key to the car.

Using his acute sense of balance, he managed to open the car door and push a heavy Rosette into the drivers seat. Taking his place in the passenger seat, his dazed mind finally realised why they weren't moving. "Applesauce." He groaned, massaging the place behind his ears where his horns had been. Rosette couldn't drive the car. That meant…he had to.

Chrono had driven the car once before, a very long time ago when they'd first arrived at the Order, and the experience wasn't something he wanted to repeat. He considered just sitting in the car and wait for someone to come and get them, but when he started to move, his wounds protested against that idea and he had doubled over in pain.

He tried to get his gasping breaths back into order as the world swam in front of his eyes. He looked at his stomach to gauge how bad things were and had to fight down bile. The gashes were slowly getting bigger thanks to the holy water eating away at his demonic flesh, and red lines were radiating out, meaning that the holy water was starting to get into his blood stream. Rosette might last a bit longer if he gave her his coat to keep her warm, but he'd be reduced to a pile of ash by the time any rescue parties arrived.

In the back of his mind, the primal instinct of survival was beginning to kick in. If Rosette had been awake, she'd have seen Chrono's usually ruby red eyes take on the gold hue of his demon form as he pulled her gently to the passenger side and clambered over to sit in the drivers seat. His vision swam again as another pulse from his wounds threatened to take away his consciousness but he pushed it back, letting more and more of his instincts take over. Placing the key in the ignition and turning it, the roar of the engine startled him and he gave a small roar of challenge back.

Next to him Rosette stirred, her eyebrows turning down into a little frown while her hand reached for his on the gear stick. Chrono calmed enough at her touch to realise there were no threats nearby and gingerly pressed down on the accelerator.

Sister Kate and Remington sat in an uncomfortable silence in her office, both staring at the brass phone on her table as if it would disappear if not watched. Both were startled when a young nun came bursting into the room, face red and panting as if she'd run all the way from the other side of the convent. "Sister Kate! Sister Kate! Come quickly! Rosette and Chrono are back!" Kate was instantly on her feet, but a hand on her arm restrained her.

"Their return shouldn't cause this much commotion, what's wrong?" Remington asked the girl, retracting him arm from its place.

"It's Chrono Father! He won't let us get anywhere near the car." Kate and Remington shared a glance before racing out of the office, leaving a stunned nun behind them.

He didn't know where he was, or why he was in pain, or why there was a human girl resting beside him with her hand on his. All he knew was that he needed to take her and escape, needed a place to hide and heal, but there were people outside the metal carriage he was in who were trying to touch him and take the girl away. He couldn't remember who the girl was, but the thought of her being taken away was oddly maddening.

He bared his teeth and growled at anyone who came too near them and pulled the human girl closer. She smiled at the contact and nuzzled into his shoulder. His dazed mind couldn't figure out why that made him happy, so he let things go and tried to rest, warning the humans outside to stay away, at least until he was well enough to move.

Shouting from the humans caught his attention and he spotted two new faces in the crowd coming closer. He roared at them, hoping they'd go away so he could heal in peace with the human girl, but they continued coming. He saw the glint of guns at their sides and quickly pushed the girl behind him, clenching his teeth and holding his stomach as the movement caused him more pain. That didn't matter though, all that did was protect the girl.

The second Remington and Kate arrived at the scene, the novices raised up a cheer and parted so the two senior members could get to the car. From the trail of destruction behind it, the car had been crashed through the gates, swerved across the lawn and come to a skidded stop in front of the convent garages. Kate at first thought Rosette had been driving, but the second she saw through the car window, she gasped.

Chrono sat in the drivers seat, face staring out at the nuns, arms wrapped around Rosettes unconscious form with a growl rumbling out of his throat. What made matters worse was the colour of his eyes. "This is bad Kate, I don't know what's wrong, but something has Chrono riled." Remington whispered, "We need to proceed with caution. I don't think Chrono knows who we are at the moment." Kate gave a nervous nod and together they approached the angry demon and its charge. Kate noticed the way Chrono's face grew angrier the closer they came and was surprised when a roar came from the small demon. By her side, Remington seemed slightly amused. "I didn't know he could roar."

"This isn't the time to joke around!" Kate hissed. Continuing forward, they both slid their guns out of their holsters.

"I really don't want to hurt you Chrono!" Remington whispered, hoping that the small demon would come back to his senses if his name were called. It didn't. Instead, he watched as Chrono swapped places with the unconscious Rosette, shielding her and at the same time allowing them to see why he was in such a delicate state. "Oh my god!" Kate gasped. "His stomach!" Remington stopped and mused for a second.

"This must be why they were back so late. The two of them were injured in a fight, Chrono had to drive them back, but his wounds were too much so his mind shut down. He's on autopilot." He grabbed hold of Kate's shoulder and holstered his gun, glancing at Kate so she would do the same.

"He still seems to be protective of Rosette…we need to do something to calm him down without getting Rosette hurt, she's unconscious." Kate whispered to him. Remington smiled at her. "I think I know a way." He seemed pensive for a second. "Chrono is a high ranking demon right? So we should treat him as such." Kate grasped for something to say as Remington began his plan.

He stepped forwards toward the car, not letting his eyes up from the floor, trying to act as submissively as possible until he was a step away, trying to ignore the threatening growl directed at him. He then knelt on one knee on the floor, bowing down to the small demon. "Chrono the Ignoble one, I humbly request you let us treat your injuries." There was a pregnant pause as everyone in the crows stopped their muttering to watch, wondering if the Father had gone insane.

"Who are you to request anything of me?" Came the growling voice of Chrono. His usual gentle voice overridden by his departure from reality.

For the crowd, it was like watching a priest talking to God. "I am Father Remington of the Magdalene Order. Again, I humbly request you let us treat your injuries."

"Why would a human, a Father of a religious organisation no less, wish to help a demon?"

"The girl you are protecting, her name is Rosette Christopher." Remington took a quick peek up at the small demon and was glad to see that the gold in his eyes had receded slightly at the sound of Rosette's name. He continued. "We wish to treat her injuries as well, though we would of course treat yours first, Chrono."

"You make a strange offer human, and I…" Chrono's reply was cut off as a small hand placed itself on his shoulder, it seemed Rosette had finally woken up.

Inside the car, Rosette stirred at the sound of her name and groggily opened her eyes, staring at her partners back. She smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder, giving a small squeeze. "Hey Chrono, what time is it?" Her voice was breathy and quiet, but it seemed he heard her. Rosette gasped when she saw the state he was in, and suddenly, the dizziness of her concussion didn't seem so bad. "Chrono!" She shouted, not noticing his wince, nor the large crowd of nuns outside. All she saw was his wounds and his yellow eyes.

_Oh no! _She screamed in her mind. _Come back Chrono! _Not caring that she could be killed by her partner while he was in this state, she threw her arms around him and pulled him close. He struggled in her arms, growling and trying to pry out of her embrace, but even like this, he didn't try to hurt her. "It's alright Chrono, calm down, we're gonna be okay." His fighting wasn't as strong as before, so Rosette began to rub circles into the place behind his ears where his horns had been.

"It's alright Chrono, we're safe, come on, come back to me." His struggles stopped completely, and his forehead came to rest on her shoulder. His breathing was choppy but even, but Rosette was slightly freaked by the warm drips of blood coming from his stomach wound. "There you go, we're safe, and we'll get you cleaned up yeah?" She whispered into his ear. A nod from him and suddenly he slumped against her, finally slipping into unconsciousness.

She sat stroking his hair for a minute before noticing she had gathered a crowd. With a nervous smile, she looked down and saw Father Remington dusting off his knees with a smile on his face. With a nervous giggle, she decided the painful throb of her head wound was a good excuse to escape the embarrassment, and fell back into unconsciousness.

**EPILOUGE**

Rosette skipped over to the infirmary where she knew Chrono was waiting for her. Her concussion hadn't been serious and she'd been dismissed from the infirmary days ago, but Chrono's injuries were far more serious and he'd been stuck, sedated in the infirmary for a week. Remington had come by to explain to her that although Chrono had fast healing abilities, the holy water had gotten into his system so they had no other way of dealing with it than to let his body process it naturally.

Rosette had become alarmed at this but Remington had continued, "He's a high ranking demon Rosette, and although he may be sealed for the moment, he's still got enough power to get over this, he'll be fine in a couple of weeks, though you need to let him have it easy for a while, he was pretty weak when he got here."

So now Rosette was going to the infirmary for what she hoped was the last time. The Elder had taken personal charge of Chrono's care and said that he would be out today. Rosette couldn't wait.

"Hey Chrono!" She yelled when she arrived, heading straight towards the bed she knew he had been confined to. "Hey Rosette." He replied, smiling a small smile at her arrival. Even though he had no recollection of his little escapade with the car and his arrival at the convent, he still felt guilty and embarrassed about losing control and had been laying low, not wanting to bring any attention to himself. "So, you want to get out of here?" she asked him, returning his smile.

"I sure do, but the Elder wants to give me a final check up, just to make sure things have healed up properly."

"Oh the Elder is such a pill! You live with the guy, he can do it later, but right now I know someone who needs ice cream and a trip to the lake! Come on, up you get!" Rosette then promptly ignored Chrono's protests and heaved the small devil out of bed and out of the convent, hoping that she could relieve the devil of an remaining guilt and secretly, she was happy that she was the only one he'd calmed for.

So there you have it, my first foray into the world of Chrono Crusade fanfiction.

By the way, i use ChrOno because i find it easier to spell it that way, please don't comment on it.

This idea is one that, while i was writing it i thought, 'no, this sounds really stupid!' but when i read it over again, it grew on me...like a mould. So if you liked this little Fic, leave me a nice review! I can handle constructive criticism, but flames will be eaten by dragons and spat back, just so you're warned :)

Again, thanks for reading and REVIEW!

P.s Sorry for everyone who wanted this to be ch.2 of **Leap of Faith**, but that fic has no ideas going for it at the moment. There is one idea, and i'll try writing it up as soon as i can find the will but for now it's floating around until i finish it. It'll prolly only have 2 chapters tops anyway unless people want to send in requests. Sorry again, Inuchron


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